British Museum Plans Show on Gay Roman Emperor Hadrian

The exhibition will reveal the many faces of Hadrian, a skilled and ruthless military leader who crushed the Jewish revolt of 132 A.D. and faced down rebellions in Britannia, the Balkans, the Caucasus and Mesopotamia.

At the same time, Hadrian's patronage of the arts will be celebrated. It was he who built Rome's Pantheon, one of the most emulated monuments in architectural history, which the British Museum's Reading Room itself was modeled after.

There's another side of the emperor that will emerge from the exhibition: ``Hadrian was gay, and we can say it,'' said Thorsten Opper, a British Museum curator of Greek and Roman sculpture, who is publishing a profile of Hadrian to coincide with the show.

Hadrian's lover Antinous, whose death caused the emperor tremendous grief, will feature throughout the exhibition. A head of Antinous, borrowed from Paris's Louvre Museum, will be displayed, as will a bowl from Georgia with his effigy. (Read More)